Southwest Airlines has canceled about 65% of its flights and may take days to “get back on track” as the holiday travel chaos continues.
The airline led with the most cancellations on Monday with 2,645, according to FlightAware. At Christmas, South West canceled 42 percent of its flights, i.e. 1,635.
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told employees the airline could take days to resume normal operations.
“The winter storm was unprecedented across our network,” Jordan said in a statement obtained by the the wall street journal. “And we have fallout from that – we’re just trying to get the network back to normal.”
Southwest canceled about 65% of its flights on Monday
The company’s CEO told staff it could take days to “get back on track” as airlines grapple with staffing issues and the winter storm.
The volume of cancellations and delays by the South West has been driven by the storm and lack of preparation.
Southwest has an aircraft hub in Chicago and Denver, but both areas were significantly impacted by the storm that led to aircraft freezing.
Union officials said flight attendants and other crew members were stranded in different states across the United States after a series of cancellations.
The airline does not have their precise locations as the stranded workers took matters into their own hands and booked their own accommodations when the company failed to help in a timely manner.
“We have stranded crews and schedules don’t know where they are,” Casey Murray, an airline union representative, told the outlet.
The CEO confirmed that the company’s planning platforms are not advanced enough for the current crisis.
Delta Airlines is the second major US-based airline with the most cancellations. About 484 cancellations were reported by the airline on Monday and 570 additional delays.
Denver, Atlanta, Chicago and Las Vegas airports are experiencing the most cancellations and delays.
Crew members are scattered and stuck in different parts of the country as more flights are canceled and delayed
Meanwhile, a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to San Francisco was forced to make an emergency landing in Nashville on Monday morning due to engine trouble, as the holiday travel chaos keep on going.
The flight with 185 passengers and six crew on board landed after the pilot received an engine notification less than an hour after takeoff, a Delta spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
The crew decided to land at Nashville International Airport as a precaution. No one was injured during the flight and the aircraft landed without incident. Passengers waited there for more than three hours for another plane.
Travel chaos plagued the United States over the holiday weekend as a catastrophic storm hit, killing at least 55 people in the United States and Canada.
On Monday, more than 2,519 flights were canceled in the United States – and another 4,309 delayed, according to Flight Aware.
The flight was traveling to San Francisco from Atlanta when the crew received the engine notification (stock image)
About 185 passengers and six crew members were on board. Passengers were dropped off at Nashville International Airport and were delayed for over three hours while waiting for another plane
A passenger on the flight to San Francisco called the incident ‘disconcerting’
“I just lost an engine on a @Delta flight from Atlanta,” Mark Katches wrote on Twitter. “I haven’t even had my coffee yet.
The Delta flight has added to the chaotic list of problems for travelers trying to be with loved ones while on vacation.
Tens of thousands of Americans have been affected over the past week after a nationwide “bomb cyclone” snowstorm grounded flights and closed runways.
Passengers were forced to sleep on the ground as some airports closed their runways “indefinitely,” including in Seattle-Tacoma where a storm hit Dec. 23.
Thousands of people were stranded inside the airport on Friday, and all nearby hotels are full. The airport runways reopened the same day.
Photos showed travelers with blankets as they slept on chairs and other open spaces.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport closed all of its runways and all flights are canceled due to freezing rain on Friday
The storm caused the cancellation of thousands of flights across the country and ruined Christmas for many Americans
Passengers were forced to sleep on the ground at Seattle airport after runways were closed
People were seen sleeping on the ground at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Some travelers have decided to avoid long flight delays and cancellations and have taken matters into their own hands.
Bridget Schuster, Greg Henry, Abby Radcliffe and Shobi Maynard were stranded at the airport in Tampa, Florida on December 22 after their return flight to Cleveland, Ohio was canceled.
The four, who appeared to be in their twenties, got together after meeting for the first time at the airport and decided to drive about 20 hours to Ohio rather than waiting for the first flight on Christmas Eve.
They shared their adventure on TikTok, racking up millions of views as they navigated gas stations and rest stops, blizzards and downpours, before heading home.
Greg Henry, Abby Radcliffe, Shobi Maynard and Bridget Schuster drove 20 hours from Tampa to Cleveland to get home for Christmas after their Dec. 22 flight was canceled.
The only stops they took were for gas, food, and for people to use the restroom. Above, snow angels two hours into the trip
An ongoing winter storm continues to envelope much of the United States, bringing record high temperatures for 200 million Americans, blinding blizzards, freezing rain and flooding.
The storm that arrived last week stretched from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the Mexican border.
In response to the inclement weather, President Joe Biden said: “This is a really serious weather warning. Please take this storm extremely seriously.
The NWS warned: “In some areas being outdoors could lead to frostbite within minutes.”
Residents and travelers in the western United States, including central California, can expect the storm to continue through Wednesday as a cyclone and cold front move eastward. inland.
Meanwhile, in Buffalo, another 36 inches of snow is forecast through Tuesday.
The city was battered by the bomb cyclone as the National Guard was deployed to assist with rescue efforts. By Monday afternoon, at least 27 people in upstate New York had died from the storm.
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